| Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918. |
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| 193. The Pool |
| | | By Fritz S. Burnell |
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| BESIDE the pale water | |
| Linger chapman and churl; | |
| Prince, poet; boy and girl; | |
| Harlot and king’s daughter. | |
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| Over the dark hedge climb | 5 |
| White stars like roses: | |
| Dark hedge that encloses | |
| The dusty road of Time. | |
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| Herein all men | |
| Gaze, as in a glass, | 10 |
| Awhile; then pass | |
| Down the long road again, | |
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| Murmuring a vague surmise, | |
| A bitter word, or a jest: | |
| With head sunken on breast; | 15 |
| Or erect, with shining eyes.… | |
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| For, as upon their way | |
| They stoop to drink | |
| Beside the reedy brink, | |
| They see in the water grey, | 20 |
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| Some, their own idle faces; | |
| Some, ripples that die | |
| Stilly, mysteriously, | |
| Of an unseen wind the traces; | |
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| Some, but the slime below, | 25 |
| Black and rotting; some, | |
| Only the idle scum | |
| Drifting to and fro. | |
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| But some, with clearer view, | |
| In the pool’s heart behold | 30 |
| Bright stars manifold, | |
| And God’s arched heaven blue.… | |
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| To the grey pool all men | |
| Come, one by one, to drink | |
| Awhile at its reedy brink, | 35 |
| And tread the road again.… | |
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